As a person of the other sex, believing, by the way, that only two sexes exist in humans, I’ve never gotten tar-babied by evolving feminist politics. But I do have a perspective regarding the “hijacking” of post-Lucille Ball feminism. It soon became apparent that modern feminism was more about liberal politics than women’s rights. How…
As a person of the other sex, believing, by the way, that only two sexes exist in humans, I’ve never gotten tar-babied by evolving feminist politics. But I do have a perspective regarding the “hijacking” of post-Lucille Ball feminism. It soon became apparent that modern feminism was more about liberal politics than women’s rights. How can I say that? Because the movement’s leaders in its modern iteration were all on the left, people like Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Andrea Dworkin, Patricia Schroeder, Elizabeth Holtzman, Barbara Jordan, Barbara Boxer, even Geraldine Ferraro. There has been no room in NOW for the likes of female high achievers to the right of NOW and NARAL, women like Phyllis Schafly, Sandra Day O’Connor, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth Dole, Elaine Chao, Condi Rice, and Sarah Palin. Even women governors such as Kristi Noem and Nikki Haley have been despised and shunned by self-proclaimed feminists because they aren’t leftists. This goes for the latest wave of younger Republican women in Congress and state offices. Thinking here, for example, of Winsome Sears, Elise Stefanik, and Lauren Boebert; and even Democrat Senator Sinema is disparaged by other women - not, obviously, because she’s a woman, but because she’s not far enough left.
So let’s not pretend that modern feminism is all about the “liberation” of women and the celebration of their many achievements. That’s true only for women on the political left. If you’re not over there, forget it. It’s the leftists who’ve hijacked your cause, and indeed your sex.
Post-Lucille Ball feminism is spot on. A few years ago, during one of those ridiculous workshops on better communication, the facilitator showed scenes from the 1951 movie The African Queen, set in 1914, in which Katharine Hepburn coaxes her reluctant captain, played by Humphrey Bogart, to keep going down a jungle river in the face of possible German shelling. It’s one of the greatest movies ever and features a strong, socially astute missionary woman who uses her feminine understanding of men to get the captain to make it seem like his idea (i.e., an early twentieth-century feminist). Well, the workshop participants who discussed their impressions of the scene were universally negative, especially one woman who was totally put off by what she saw as dishonest discourse. I had to speak up and said that another way to look at it was in the context of the times, the First World War meets early feminism. Everyone looked at me like birds who could not blink. We’ve lost so much more than feminism, I’m afraid.
Strong women have been using their understanding of men to get their own way from time immemorial. It isn't "dishonest discourse." It is practical psychology.
As a person of the other sex, believing, by the way, that only two sexes exist in humans, I’ve never gotten tar-babied by evolving feminist politics. But I do have a perspective regarding the “hijacking” of post-Lucille Ball feminism. It soon became apparent that modern feminism was more about liberal politics than women’s rights. How can I say that? Because the movement’s leaders in its modern iteration were all on the left, people like Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Andrea Dworkin, Patricia Schroeder, Elizabeth Holtzman, Barbara Jordan, Barbara Boxer, even Geraldine Ferraro. There has been no room in NOW for the likes of female high achievers to the right of NOW and NARAL, women like Phyllis Schafly, Sandra Day O’Connor, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth Dole, Elaine Chao, Condi Rice, and Sarah Palin. Even women governors such as Kristi Noem and Nikki Haley have been despised and shunned by self-proclaimed feminists because they aren’t leftists. This goes for the latest wave of younger Republican women in Congress and state offices. Thinking here, for example, of Winsome Sears, Elise Stefanik, and Lauren Boebert; and even Democrat Senator Sinema is disparaged by other women - not, obviously, because she’s a woman, but because she’s not far enough left.
So let’s not pretend that modern feminism is all about the “liberation” of women and the celebration of their many achievements. That’s true only for women on the political left. If you’re not over there, forget it. It’s the leftists who’ve hijacked your cause, and indeed your sex.
Post-Lucille Ball feminism is spot on. A few years ago, during one of those ridiculous workshops on better communication, the facilitator showed scenes from the 1951 movie The African Queen, set in 1914, in which Katharine Hepburn coaxes her reluctant captain, played by Humphrey Bogart, to keep going down a jungle river in the face of possible German shelling. It’s one of the greatest movies ever and features a strong, socially astute missionary woman who uses her feminine understanding of men to get the captain to make it seem like his idea (i.e., an early twentieth-century feminist). Well, the workshop participants who discussed their impressions of the scene were universally negative, especially one woman who was totally put off by what she saw as dishonest discourse. I had to speak up and said that another way to look at it was in the context of the times, the First World War meets early feminism. Everyone looked at me like birds who could not blink. We’ve lost so much more than feminism, I’m afraid.
Strong women have been using their understanding of men to get their own way from time immemorial. It isn't "dishonest discourse." It is practical psychology.
Yes! Not to mention an element of romance. Turning flirting into discourse is like thinking people are more alluring naked than clothed.